Alonso: McLaren "definitely more competitive" in 2019

Departing McLaren driver Fernando Alonso is confident that his team will be more competitive in 2019, with the Spaniard retiring from the sport after this weekend's race in Abu Dhabi.

After four years of reliability issues and under-performing, Alonso will call it a day at McLaren's trouble-ridden F1 team, as he moves to the team's IndyCar department for 2019. Carlos Sainz Junior will take his place, with rookie Lando Norris lining up next to him after making the jump up from Formula 2.

Even though his time at McLaren was far from ideal, Alonso is confident that the team will have a more competitive package come 2019.

"It’s a private thing in the team," Alonso said on the Formula 1's website when asked what went wrong on this year's car.

"But definitely we took some directions in this project that were not giving the results we expected.

"Some compromises were made in the car for a lot of hopes on performance. They were not coming, so we only took the downside of those decisions. So next year should be much better and the lesson is taken."

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"I think the car is definitely going to be more competitive. From July, we’ve been testing experimental parts [for] next year. I think there’s a lot of optimism in the team with the direction the car took in the last couple of months. We understood our problems."

The two-time champion stands tenth in the drivers' championship as it stands, although Esteban Ocon is right behind him with just one point less.